Doctor Geo Mandrake

For other uses, see Doctor Geo Mandrake (disambiguation).

“	A genius working in the military's genetic engineering labs. He was apparently involved in the development of biological weapons during the Alien Wars.	„
	~ Hard Corps instruction booklet

Doctor Geo Mandrake (ドクタージオ•マンドレイク, Dokutājio Mandoreiku^?) is a recurring character in the Contra series. He was a scientist who allied with Colonel Bahamut in order to be able to research the Alien Cell containing the Mother Alien's DNA. He was also responsible for designing the plans for the construction of the cybernetic super soldier Lucia, although he was unable to finish the project as he died shortly after.

Appearances[]

Contra: Hard Corps[]

Doctor Geo Mandrake was a scientist working in a research center during the events of Contra: Hard Corps. According to the instruction booklet, he was also involved in making biological weapons during the Alien Wars.

After the end of the war, the Government forces obtained an Alien Cell (presumably from Gava's body), which was then locked away in a vault. Not being allowed to study the sample, Mandrake started to grow resentment against the Government, eventually going insane and allying with Colonel Bahamut in order to carry on with his experiments.

At the end of the first stage, he contacts the Hard Corps task force and informs them that the research center is being under attack, asking them to come help them. If the player decides to go rescue the center, he gives them information about the Alien Cell.

At the end of Stage 4, the Hard Corps get ambushed by a squad of soldiers commanded by Colonel Bahamut, as well as the doctor, finally dropping the facade and revealing that he was allied with Bahamut from the beginning:

If the player chooses to "FIGHT TO THE END", the doctor enters a fusion machine that allows him to create a multitude of gruesome mutated monsters by combining diverse living beings. However, this happens to be his very own demise, as the last creature reaches for him and eats him alive.
Should the player "SURRENDER AND FIGHT LATER" and Deadeye Joe is still alive, the doctor is fought after Joe's death. Bahamut uses the doctor's own technology to mutate him into a spider-like creature which attacks the heroes and ultimately dies at their hands.
Should the player "SURRENDER AND FIGHT LATER" and Deadeye Joe is dead, the doctor uses his technology to mutate Bahamut's own men into disgusting mutated creatures. He is then fought in the elevator that connects to Bahamut's space station, controlling a two-legged walker vehicle. The Hard Corps prevail in this battle as well, with the doctor perishing as his vehicle explodes.

In Probotector on the Sega Mega Drive, his betrayal was edited out and he was removed from all scenes taking place after the research center.

With the exception of his mutated form, Dr. Geo Mandrake's boss theme is "Format X".

Contra: Shattered Soldier[]

Even though Doctor Geo has been dead for several years prior to the events of Shattered Soldier, it was revealed that he was working on a project to create the ultimate super soldier by using alien DNA. However, he was unable to complete this project, as he died shortly after.

The plans were retrieved by the military, who were eventually able to bring them to completion, leading to the creation of the cybernetically enhanced super soldier Lucia. However, there were some parts of the research that could not be duplicated and thus didn't allow for mass production, leaving Lucia as the only prototype. She was later assigned to be Bill Rizer's partner (and watchdog) while he was temporarily put out of prison, and both were sent together a mission to defeat the Blood Falcon terrorist organization.

Hard Corps: Uprising[]

Main article: Doctor Geo Mandrake (Uprising)

Taking place in the year 2613 (28 years prior the events of Contra: Hard Corps), Doctor Geo Mandrake was a young scientist who was forced to work for the Commonwealth, but he eventually defected in order to save his family, leading to him being imprisoned. He was eventually rescued by the Resistance led by Bahamut, a former soldier of the Empire. After the Empire was destroyed, Mandrake started working for the Government, creating various weapons for the Contra force.

In the game, he appears as a non-playable character who has to be escorted to safety during a mission.

Like the rest of the characters and events in this game, his appearance acts as a possible backstory of the character in Contra: Hard Corps, although since Hard Corps: Uprising doesn't form part of the main canon timeline, it's left to ambiguity if this is in fact the case.

Notes[]

In both the Japanese version of Contra: Hard Corps and Probotector (MD), the doctor is named in-game, whereas in the English version of Contra: Hard Corps, he isn't specifically named (with certain characters simply calling him "Doctor"). He is fully named in the instruction manual for all regions of Hard Corps and in the Database of Contra: Shattered Soldier.
The European instruction booklet states he has a "computer brain".^[1] Whether this means he is part machine (possibly to make him seem less human to fit in with the other robotic characters), or this is simply a figure of speech, is unclear.
The Doctor's betrayal dialogue differs between the English and Japanese regions of Contra: Hard Corps. In the English script, he mentions he is "sick and tired of this weakling government" and wishes to perform dark experiments with the Alien Cell. In the Japanese script, he mentions "fear of a sloppy government" and states there will be conducting of illegal experiments.^[2]

Gallery[]

Screenshots[]

Sprites[]

Artworks[]

Trivia[]

Dr. Geo's physical appearance and occupation are apparently inspired by Albert Einstein (1879-1955), a German-born theoretical physicist, known for developing the theory of relativity.
In earlier prototypes of Contra Advance: The Alien Wars EX, a glitch can occur in Stage 5 where Dr. Geo would appear for a brief second just before the Doctor Spider boss emerges into the boss room.

References[]

↑ Probotector instruction booklet, page 40: "Chief of a medical research laboratory. An ingenious scientist with a computer brain."
↑ Contra: The Hard Corps script at Game Kommander. (Japanese)

[1] Probotector instruction booklet, page 40: "Chief of a medical research laboratory. An ingenious scientist with a computer brain."

[2] Contra: The Hard Corps script at Game Kommander. (Japanese)

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